Wisden overview
Arguably the nation's fastest-ever bowler, Javagal Srinath heralded a period
of awakening for Indian pace bowling, after Kapil Dev's swing had fired
popular imagination. And when he retired from international cricket of 11
years in 2003, Srinath was second only to Kapil in number of Test wickets by
an Indian paceman.

On his day, Srinath was outstanding. With a strong shoulder action, he hit
the pitch with force, and bowled mainly incutters and inswingers, though in
the right conditions he could move it the other way. As much as the slips,
Srinath brought into play the man at short leg. On the dustbowls of India,
he learned to harness the power of the old ball off the seam rather than in
the air, the finest demonstration of which was his 6 for 21 at Ahmedabad in
1996-97 to bowl out South Africa in the fourth innings.

Late in his career - perhaps later than should have been - Srinath added
variations to his bowling, in particular using the leg-cutter and the slower
delivery to good effect in one-day cricket. In these final years, he played
big brother to India's rising seamers, and himself excelled in India's World
Cup campaign, Srinath's last international outing. As a batsman, he provided
chaotic entertainment, but only occasionally fulfilled his potential.

Srinath's weak points were his stamina and his fragility under pressure. He often gave the impression that he could have done more, but by the time he was finished he had, in many ways, done enough.
(Rahul Bhattacharya)